Clockwork Punk
by Cadela
Summary: Wallace comes to Japan. He digs Daisuke. Takeru gets pissed! This story contaaaaains.. Takari, Wallsuke, and Takedai! Whoo-baby! PG-13 for the yaoi-type stuff and language.
1. Wallace ahoy!

_Wally-kun D waves What can I say... I like Wallace. He's cute! So anyway, here we go. Part one because I don't know what to do with this yet. You'll understand when you get to the end._

_Oh yes! To the person who e-mailed me about the bracelets I mention Daisuke wearing – it's inspired by my friends, who wear about twenty bracelets on each wrist. My twisted little Dais is a mix of about three of my friends, in case anyone wants to know. _

_Digimon t'ain't mine. Did you know MS Word doesn't like the word "Digimon?" Is says it is spelled wrong. Silly MS Word... silly Bill Gates..._

_And in case you're wondering why I didn't mention Wally's job, it's because I didn't know exactly what it was gonna be. Plus, it's not important to the story._

_to all the people in the east / clockwork punk_

_to all the people in the north / clockwork punk_

_to all the people in the west / clockwork punk_

_to all the people in the south / clockwork punk_

The sun was warm as it beat down on the city. Large fluffy clouds blew through the air, breezing past the sun and momentarily hiding the sunlight, plunging the busy streets into darkness. Then, after only a brief few seconds, the sun would reappear again, lighting the world and the people living on it.

Strolling down the street among the crowds of people, Hikari Yagami and Takeru Takaishi walked hand-in-hand. Today everything having to do with school could wait. Today they were just out for fun.

There was a familiar scraping of plastic on gravel as a familiar figure, gliding gracefully around the more pedestrian population on a skateboard, appeared. Skating his way down the road, Daisuke Motomiya was so busy studying the world rushing by he hardly even noticed his friends until he'd slid past. Snapping his skateboard in a 180, he rolled back to their side with the gagunk, gagunk sound the wheels made as they bounced over cracks in the sidewalk. Pulling the headphones from his ears and resting them around his neck, he flashed a brilliant grin. "Mornin'!"

Takeru tossed a glance at his wrist. "Afternoon. 12:32." He tossed a glance over the boy before him, marveling at the difference there was between himself and the other. Daisuke was wearing green khaki pants, regardless of the fact that it was very warm and humid outside. They were baggy, ripped on the bottom from contact with the ground, and hung over his shoes. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that covered half of his hands and a baggy t-shirt over that. He was thin, almost waify; how he stayed that way was a mystery to Takeru, considering Daisuke had a huge appetite and ate every bit of food in sight. He certainly wasn't the same boy they'd known in the 5th grade. He'd disappeared after that year, and now that it was the summer before their 12th grade. They were going to be seniors this upcoming year, and Daisuke had completely changed, right up to the bright red highlights in his maroon hair. He'd changed on the inside, too. But that was a secret – only Takeru knew about that.

Takeru had changed, too, though. The two had once been at each other's necks all the time, and now Daisuke was his best friend. Even though TK was hardly as hardcore as he was, Daisuke had successfully put him into the trend of wearing baggy clothes, listening to punk music, and dragging him out to various raves. He'd even skipped school, the most outrageous thing he'd ever done.

Daisuke was good for him. He was learning to loosen up. And Takeru was good for Daisuke; he kept him mellowed out, holding him from going overboard.

"Ah, whatever," the anti-mellow waved his hand in the air dismissively. "That's not important. What's up?"

"We're wasting the day," Hikari answered. "What're you doing?"

"Exactly the same thing," he responded as he lifted the orange-lensed sunglasses from his dark eyes as clouds hid the sun again. He lifted his arm and pointed off in the distance. "Hey."

The other two turned in that direction. "What?" Hikari asked, peering into the distance.

"Hey. Hey! Wallace!" Takeru raised one arm and waved it in the air.

"Wallace?" she blinked, glancing at her boyfriend.

"Wallace," Daisuke stated, flicking the sunglasses back down over his eyes.

Hikari leaned over and stared at where Daisuke had pointed, her eyes searching. And suddenly she saw him. A blonde boy, shorter than Daisuke, with brilliant green eyes. "Wallace!" she yelped, waving her arms in the air frantically.

Fighting through the crowd of people, Wallace made his way over to the three. "Hey! Hikari, Takeru, Daisuke!" the American boy greeted them with a grin.

"Wallace, dude, where've you been? How long have you been here and why didn't you say anything to us about coming?" Daisuke kicked the skateboard into one gloved hand and tucked it under his arm.

"I've been here for about three hours now. I didn't have a chance to call ahead – the trip was sort of sprung on me. I paged you as soon as I got off the plane, Daisuke," Wallace blinked in the bright sunlight, lifting one hand to shade his eyes.

"You did?" the dark haired boy reached down, lifted up the edge of his shirt, fought past his wallet chain, and fished the pager out of his pocket. Holding it up, he tilted the sunglasses down and peered at the readout curiously. "Oh, hey, wow! You did! Cool! I got paged!" he looked up and announced happily to Takeru, who was looking over his shoulder.

Takeru smiled and turned his attention back to Wallace. "Why are you here?"

"Temporary job," Wallace fished a card out of his pocket and handed it to the others. "Only for a month, while I'm still out of school for summer break. I'm going to check out some colleges while I'm here, too. Transfer, you know."

"Transfer here? Ew, why would you want to do that?" Daisuke raised one eyebrow.

"Daisuke has no patriotism," Hikari explained, scratching the short hair at the base of Daisuke's neck briefly. "I'm glad you're here, Wallace. We haven't seen you since... I don't know when. How old were we?"

"Twelve!" Daisuke declared proudly. "Five years ago."

The four stood there in the road, silent for a long while, thinking about five years that had passed them all by. Hikari was the one to say something first, giving a loud, "Oof!" as someone shoved past her on the streets. "Ouch," she mumbled, glaring at the man that had brushed roughly by. "Standing in the middle of these streets isn't a good idea."

"Let's go somewhere we can all catch up," Takeru suggested. "That is, if Wallace doesn't have anywhere to get to."

The other blonde held out his arms. "I'm free all weekend."

"I can't go," Daisuke dropped the skateboard to the ground, settling his feet onto it. "I have to stop in at work in a little bit because they need me to help 'em with the busy hour. Hey, Wallace? What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing planned, unless you're got something in mind."

"Ever been to a rave?" Daisuke flashed a grin.

"Rave? No, actually. I hear about them a lot but I've never gone."

"Wanna have the time of your life? There's one tonight. We'll take you."

Hikari nodded encouragingly at Wallace. "They're fun! You should go with us!"

Shrugging, Wallace agreed, "Okay."

"Awesome. Hikari, Takeru, meet you there," he nodded, shoving off and weaving his way through the sidewalk.

Turning to smile up at Wallace, who was an easy three inches taller than her, Hikari tilted her head to the side. "Daisuke skates. A lot. He's always bruised or bloody or something because his balance is terrible, being the klutz he is, but he still skates."

"He loves it," Takeru murmured. "He can't deal with not being active. That's why he does so much."

Wallace walked in the middle of the two, his eyes watching everyone they passed with the typical amazed curiosity of a tourist. "What all does he do?"

"Skates, runs, swims, plays soccer, plays basketball with me once in a while, kicks Hikari's butt in volleyball..."

"He does not! One time he beat me! ONE TIME!" the brunette smacked Takeru on the arm roughly, much to the amusement of Wallace. "Let's count the times he's beaten _you,_ shall we? There was that one time that he won by a HUGE margin, and then once it was a shut out, and..."

"Hikariiiii... You're not being fair."

"I am too!"

Wallace laughed. "You two are cute. Are you dating now?"

"Yes," Takeru answered.

"Maybe not after that crack about volleyball."

"What? That's not fair! I was only kidding!"

"You liar! You're mean to me."

"Hikariiiiii..."

"You whine like Daisuke. Stop that."

Hikari emerged from the subway, decked out in shiny pink pants, a pink tanktop, and pink gloves that went up to her elbows. "I'm very pink!" she announced as she wove through the crowd of people to Wallace and Takeru, who were standing on the sidewalk waiting for her. She smiled happily, checking out the two guys. Takeru was wearing his hat again, pulled down so that it hung almost over his eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt with black side stripes, and baggy blue jeans. Wallace was decked out in a long sleeved, dusty red shirt and shorts that fell just past his knees. "You boys are very cute."

"Yes, I know," Takeru glanced briefly at his watch. "We're late, we'd better run."

"I'm sorry," Hikari told them as they all raced along the sidewalk away from the subway. "I tried to hurry, but first I couldn't find the hair dyer and then I couldn't find my gloves and _then_ I couldn't find my shoes..."

The three ran along the dark harbor. As they ran, distant music reached their ears and steadily got louder. The sound was vibrating from a small building along the edge of the river.

"Ready to rave?" Hikari tossed a dazzling smile to Wallace, shoving open the doors.

Inside was a completely separate world. The air was thick, hot, and black, the darkness only disrupted by lights of every colour flashing through the air. The music was loud and echoing, and it moved the people packing the building. The crowd was full of people of different colours – skin and hair and clothes. But here under the hot lights they all joined together and moved as one.

"Wow," Wallace breathed, staring at the life before him.

"This is fun stuff," Hikari leaned in, yelling to be heard over the music. "There's Daisuke," she pointed off to the opposite side of the room. Standing behind a table, with one hand on his headphones and one hand on a row of level controls, was Daisuke, wrists covered by bracelets. His shirt was white and switched shades as the lights strobed past, a zip-up hoodie hanging over it, sleeves rolled up to his elbows; his pants were baggy green khakis with red side stripes that fanned out into flames near the knee. The goggles hung slack around his neck, swaying from side to side as he grooved to the music.

Takeru nudged the American boy. "He's got two turntables and a microphone."

"Is there anything this kid _doesn't_ do?"

"Not likely!"

"Daisuke doesn't spin all night," Hikari called back. "Just for about two hours or so. He looks good," she absently noted to herself.

Wallace just nodded. "Talk about your culture shock," he mumbled under his breath.

"What?" both Takeru and Hikari yelled over the music, then laughed. "Come on," Hikari grabbed Wallace by the hand and pulled him along behind her as they made their way through the crowd to the table. Daisuke was talking to some tall guy with black hair – at least it _looked_ like black hair, but what with all of the neon flashes Wallace couldn't be sure – and surrendered the headphones, hopping off the platform to the floor below. His eyes locked on the trio approaching him, grinning.

Hikari shot up her arm and waved wildly over the crowd, letting go of Wallace and skipping forwards. "Dai-sama," she greeted him. "Sorry we're late."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You're here now, yeah?"

"It's hot," Takeru commented.

Daisuke nodded and pointed towards the door. "Gonna go out and cool off for a minute. Be right back. Don't cause any trouble without me."

Hikari nudged Takeru and tilted her head to Wallace. He was intently watching Daisuke slip his way through the crowd towards the door. "I think Wallace likes Daisuke," she whispered, then had to yell it a few times to be heard over the music.

_DUN DUN DAH! Okay... this can go one of two ways... well, three... Hikari could be wrong and there's nothing there at all; Wallace really could like Dais; Wallace could like Dais and TK GETS JEALOUS D You guys get to pick because I dunno what to do with this So when you review it, just plop a little note about what you want me to do in there. It's all about the fanservice. noddle_


	2. Kiss The Rain

Hikari yawned as she walked through the park, her arm linked around Takeru's. "Soooo tired. I was up late last night," she explained. "I told Daisuke to call me after he got home from work and we talked for a few hours."

"He never calls _me_ anymore," the blonde mumbled resentfully.

"Oh yes he does, he told me so. He says you never call him back."

"He's never home when I call back," Takeru protested.

Hikari shook her head. "You two play phone tag. Either you're out or he's at work or _he's_ out or _you're_ at work or he's asleep or... hrmph. You guys are just too busy."

"He's not too busy for _Wallace_," Takeru pointed out.

"That's not fair of you. Wallace isn't as busy as you are. They have more common off-time."

Takeru made a face. "He's my best friend, I don't see why he can't _make_ time for me..."

Hikari sighed and was about to respond when she turned to the familiar sound of plastic on pavement. "Well, here. Problem solved."

Daisuke came blading his way down the sidewalk towards them. Swiveling around, he skated backwards in front of the two as they continued down the path. "Hey, guys."

"Hi, Daisuke," Hikari smiled. "What's up?"

"Going to work. Overflow control again. We need to go out tonight. I haven't seen either of you for two weeks." Daisuke interrupted his own conversation, sliding around the two. "Hey, Wally-kun."

Takeru and Hikari turned to see Wallace heading their way. "Wally-kun?" Takeru mumbled bitterly to Hikari, who rolled her eyes at him.

"Morning, guys. Hey Dais," Wallace grinned happily in greeting.

"Dais?" Takeru grumbled.

Hikari elbowed him roughly. "You're immature," she mumbled back. "Good morning, Wallace. How's the city treating you?"

"I love this town. It's so awesome," he smiled brushing blonde hair from his eyes. Takeru noted with a snort of disgust that Wallace had one of Daisuke's bracelets from the rave on his wrist.

"Are we going out tonight?" Daisuke cut the conversation back to himself, pointing at the watch on his wrist to hint at the fact that he needed to get to work.

"I don't feel like going out tonight," Takeru replied shortly. He locked eyes with Daisuke for a brief moment, then turned away heatedly.

Daisuke raised one eyebrow. "Whatever," he mumbled flatly. He spun around and skated off without another word.

"Dais! Hey, Dais, wait!" Hikari called after him. He didn't even glance back. Huffily, Hikari turned and smacked Takeru roughly on the arm. "Jerk!"

Wallace blinked in confusion. "What's all of that about?'

"Nothing," Hikari assured him, linking her arm around Takeru's again. "He's just stupid. See you Wallace, we have to go run some errands for my mom."

"I'll come with you," the American boy offered brightly.

"No thanks. We have to do some talking alone, if you get what I mean. Relationship things, no offense. Come ON, Takeru," the girl roughly dragged her boyfriend off behind her, leaving a very confused Wallace to stare after them.

"You are RUDE! So rude!" Hikari announced to Takeru as they sat over a lunch of seafood. "Why are you being so mean to Wallace? He didn't do anything to you! He's a really nice guy!"

"Because!" Takeru responded. Realizing how hollow that sounded, he began again. "Ever since he's been here, it's not me and Dais anymore. It's always _Wallace_ and Dais. Wallace and Dais, Wallace and Dais. He's got one of Daisuke's _bracelets_ for God's sakes!"

"Takeru, Daisuke has millions of bracelets. It's a general gesture of friendship to give one to people. You know that. He does it all the time."

"He called him _Wally-kun._ How icky is that?"

Hikari narrowed her eyes. "_I_ made up that nickname. We all called him that five years ago, if you care to remember correctly, you jerk."

Takeru was quite for a moment. "Yeah... but... Wallace calls him _Dais._ I'm the one that invented that nickname... it's mine. Everyone else calls him Dai-san or Dai-sama or Daisuke-kun even, but never Dais."

"I call him Dais."

"You're different."

"Jun calls him Dais, too. Plenty of his friends do. Nicknames are public domain, Takeru. It's not that big of a deal. You're really putting things out of proportion here."

"Fine. Forget the nickname thing. The point is that Dais is _my_ best friend, and yet he's spending more time with Wallace."

"You can have more than one best friend," Hikari pointed out.

"No. Not Dais."

"I'm his best friend, too, you moron!"

"You're different!"

Hikari slammed her fists on the table in frustration. "You're so jealous! What's the matter with you? He's old enough to take care of himself and pick who he wants to be friends with! Maybe he doesn't _want_ to be best friends with you anymore, did you ever think about THAT?" She stared down at the food before her and ignored the fact that the entire restaurant was turned in their direction, gawking. She sighed. "Okay, I didn't mean that. Forget I even said it, okay?"

Takeru poked at the plate glumly. "Maybe you're right."

"Oh, brother. I'm not right. I just said it to get you to quit making everything such a big deal. Daisuke's your best friend, all right? And he wouldn't do anything to end that." The brunette tapped her fingers on his hand. "You know this. You know he cares. But you're too busy being jealous. He doesn't have any idea you're angry. He told me so. He's completely oblivious."

"He always is," Takeru mumbled. "He's kinda slow, isn't he."

Hikari smiled. "Yes, he is. My point is this: You have to stop whining at me and go talk to Daisuke. It _does_ involve him, after all. It might be nice to let him know you feel left out. Don't just nod at me, say it out loud. Say you'll talk to him."

"Okay, okay," he sighed, glancing at the clock. "I'll go talk to him. Happy now?"

"Yes. Good boy."

Takeru opened the door to CD Reshop and gazed around. The store always looked much larger than it needed to be during the week, but on the weekends like today, the place was packed.

CD Reshop didn't just sell CD's, and it wasn't just a reshop, either. It sold anything even remotely related to entertainment: magazines, graphic novels, videos, video games, and yes, CD's. It also carried random stuff, just plain _stuff_ that isn't even worth going into detail about. But the big attraction for Daisuke was the skater stuff. Decks lined the walls, different shades of wheels, trucks, and grip tape were placed on shelves and racks; the store was everything a punk kid like Daisuke would want.

And today it was filled with punk kids.

The store was owned by a guy named Jay J, a guy with hair that changed dyed shades every week. He'd become fast friends with Daisuke and Takeru after the former drug his friend into the store one day, and after that it was a tradition to visit the store at least once a week. Jokingly, Jay J had said, "God, Daisuke, you're in here so often you might as well get a _job_ here."

And thusly Daisuke got a job.

Most kids their age didn't have jobs. Education was more important. Besides, who needed a job? Parents paid for everything.

But then again, Daisuke wasn't like most kids their age. He didn't care about school, and his parents were stingy with cash flow.

Takeru had a job, too, at a restaurant. He'd gotten it shortly before Daisuke had started working. It wasn't that he was bored like Daisuke, but in a single parent family like his, one could always use some extra cash.

Snapping back to the present, Takeru glanced around the store until spotting Daisuke near the back, talking to someone. Working his way down the aisles and through the crowd, it slowly became apparent who Daisuke was talking to.

Wallace stood about a foot away from Takeru's best friend, and he said something that left Daisuke looking a little annoyed. But before Daisuke could open his mouth to respond, the American boy leaned forwards and locked their lips in a kiss. His fingers locked on the slack part of Daisuke's dark blue work shirt, holding him there – not like Daisuke was trying to get away.

Takeru's mind screamed, and he bit his lip to keep from vocalizing the rage that shot through him. He angrily turned around and stormed out of the store, brushing past customers without saying a word.

For two hours, Takeru sat on a bench in the park, his mind racing.

_My friend. My best friend. And this guy is gonna take him away from me in no time flat. Hell, he's already won. I just saw the proof, didn't I? What am I gonna do? I can't handle not having Dais as my best friend anymore. He's everything to me. I need him. He _kissed_ him! Their eyes were closed! No no no no no! I refuse to share my best friend with anyone, especially not that American prick!_

"Takeru?" A voice cut him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see Daisuke staring at him oddly, balancing in front of him on his blades.

"What?"

"Are you all right? You looked a little... out of it, to say the least."

"I'm fine."

Daisuke sat down on the bench next to the blonde and gave a weak smile. "We've been a little off this week, haven't we."

Takeru shrugged coldly. "I didn't notice."

A look of hurt flashed over Daisuke's face. "Well, I did. Suddenly my best friend is avoiding me, won't return my phone calls _or_ my e-mails, hardly even glances my way... and what was up with this morning? Whaddya mean you don't 'feel' like going out?"

"I just don't feel like it, exactly that. I don't have to be on you twenty-four seven, do I?"

There was a long stretch where Daisuke said nothing, then rose from the bench. "Whatever," he finally mumbled out, turning to skate off.

'Whatever' was what Daisuke said when he'd run out of words to express what he wanted to say. He said it when he was at the breaking point of frustration, when he was deeply upset, or any other time where it was easier to ignore the emotions and pretend he didn't care. Normally, this would have been where Takeru switched into comfort mode, going out of his way to make him happy again. But not today, not now. "What does it matter to you _anyway_?" he spat out. "You've got _Wallace_ now. Who cares what happens with Takeru, huh?"

Daisuke turned, tilting his head to the side in complete confusion. "Eh? Wallace? Is that what you're so mad about?" Takeru snorted and turned away in response, glowering in the opposite direction. Long stretch of silence. Finally, Daisuke held out a hand to catch a raindrop as it fell from the cloudy sky. "I haven't seen him for five years, Takeru," he started. "We shared something then, you know? Something special, like..."

"And what about what _we_ share, Dais? Doesn't that mean _anything_ to you anymore? I would _die_ for you, Daisuke-sama. Don't you understand that?"

Daisuke stepped back, or rather rolled. He was struggling to figure out exactly what was going through Takeru's mind. "Course I do, but... it's just... he's a really cool guy and..."

"What about _me?_" Takeru snapped. He glared up at the other, reading every bit of hurt and confusion on his face - and hating him for it.

"I'm sorry," was all that he managed out.

"Sorry? You're sorry? Well so I am! You'd rather be friends with Wallace any day; he'd suck up to you more than your stupid little fan girls would. And I mean that _literally!_"

Daisuke stared at him, one eyebrow rising in surprise. "You think that Wallace... and me...?"

The blue eyes kept glaring coldly at him. "I saw you two kiss. I saw it."

"But... Takeru, that..."

"What? Oh, I guess you're going to tell me it wasn't a kiss! That it only _looked_ like you two were sucking face! Gee, Daisuke, I knew you played roller hockey, but I wasn't aware you also played _tonsil_ hockey! What was that, huh? Did you have something stuck in your teeth and he was just helping? You closed your eyes when you kissed! I _saw_ it, Dais." Takeru turned away one more time, fighting the urge to hit something, because most likely his target would be Daisuke.

For a long time, neither said anything. Daisuke stood there, feeling very idiotic for not understanding any of this before. The rain came down, soaking him through the clothes as he tried to comprehend a week and a half of anger that had flooded out at him in two minutes, and tried to figure out what to say to make it all better. Finally, he slid over in front of Takeru. Expertly snapping the roller blades out from under himself, he crashed down to his knees on the soaking sidewalk, into a puddle that was quickly forming. The maneuver must have hurt, but the boy didn't even wince. He'd stopped trying to think of what to say and just started to talk. "Takeru. I didn't mean to sideline you in any way. Wallace... well, Wallace is just Wallace. But you've been my best friend for five years..."

"Four," Takeru mumbled.

"All right, four. Who the hell is counting. The number of years isn't important to me. I would give up _everything_ to maintain our friendship. I'd... I'd... kill my own parents!"

"But Dais, you hate your parents."

"Oh, right. Umm, okay, I'd... I'd kill Hikari!"  
"Dais."

"Look," Daisuke scratched his head. "I _need_ you."

Takeru glanced up from the ground to the face of his friend. Rain poured down his face, his reddish hair dripping rain into eyes filled with desperation.

"Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad," the blonde sighed. "It's just that I don't want anyone to steal my title away when I'm not looking. That's what Wallace was doing."

"No one could ever begin to replace you." The two sat there for a moment before Takeru smiled slightly. Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief. It was over now. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What does kissing have to do with any of this?"

Takeru groaned. "You don't _get_ it, do you?"

"No, I don't. I'm stupid, you know that. Enlighten me."

Takeru reached forwards and settled his hands on Daisuke's neck, using his thumbs to tilt his head up. "The thing is... you're mine. And I'm not sharing." He leaned forwards on the park bench and let their lips brush together in a slight kiss. He was more than pleased to see Daisuke shut his eyes as he kissed back.

"But what about Hikari?" the darker boy gasped as soon as the kiss ended.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Takeru replied, brushing the rain soaked hair from the deep brown eyes and going in for another kiss.

"Mmf," Daisuke mumbled. They stayed that way for a few minutes as the rain poured around them. As they kissed, Daisuke started to laugh, ruining the moment. As Takeru broke the kiss, he grinned. "Wallace isn't even a good kisser. And I do have experience in the good kisser department."

Takeru just smiled.


	3. Caught Out There

Wallace leaned against the door to the Motomiya apartment, taking shelter from the rain and waiting for Daisuke at the same time. He should have been home by now, having gotten off work thirty-seven minutes and forty-one seconds ago. But Wallace could wait.

If Daisuke was cute five years ago, he was drop dead gorgeous now. Wallace had liked him back then, although since he was only 12 at the time and didn't fully understand his orientation, nothing really came out of it. But now, five years later and completely in control of his hormones (okay, that's a lie. Not really.) he could see the appeal in the boy, in the way he wasn't afraid to be different. The bracelets and rings and necklaces told him so. The way he dressed told him so. The fact that he had stood up on the subway last week and recited the first monologue from Ferris Bueller's Day Off quite loudly and ignored the staring told him so. It was like the rest of the world was so plain and vanilla that it dulled in comparison to this boy who was all 41 flavors in one.

There was also an appeal in the way he was athletic and yet... not. The atheletes in America were the guys on the basketball team and the American-style football teams. And here was Daisuke playing soccer, running track, skating on blades _and_ a board... and from what Takeru said, he was everything else too. He briefly wondered if Daisuke ever played Sora in tennis. He'd been told that, aside from being a DJ, Daisuke sang with excellent talent and played bass – both partially kudos to Yamato. Furthermore, he was an artist of the visual sense, too. His outgoing and friendly personality was the thing that made it all so exciting. Yes... there was certainly a lot that was attractive about Daisuke.

Wallace smiled. He didn't kiss too bad, either.

That was the reason he was here. Post-kiss, Daisuke stumbled over words and mumbled something about not having the time to think it over right now, inviting him to meet up at the apartment after work.

It was after work now – forty-two minutes and twelve seconds – but Wallace would wait.

He watched as a couple made their way along the sidewalk that stretched before the apartment building. One of them was on roller blades, rolling slowly along, he edges of his baggy jeans getting wet. He was wearing a sweatshirt with a hood pulled up over his head to shield from the rain. The other was a blonde, wearing less-baggy clothing and walking, blue jeans just barely clear from the water.

'Someday, me and Daisuke will be like that,' Wallace thought triumphantly to himself. 'Hey, wait a second.' He leaned over the walkway railing, peering down through the rain. It _was_ Takeru! But whoever was on those blades was certainly not Hikari. Maybe it was Daisuke; they _were_ friends, after all. Wallace watched as the blader rolled a 180 and stopped in front of Takeru, fingerless-gloved hands grasping the cuffs of the blondes' jacket. No, it couldn't be Daisuke. They were being too close. It _had_ to be a girl. Takeru was cheating on Hikari with some other girl!

The two below him were talking, and then Takeru reached up and shoved the hood back from the others face. The red hair that was no exposed was unmistakable. Wallace's eyes widened. "Daisuke?" he mumbled to himself.

The blades evened out the height difference and Daisuke leaned forwards, planting a kiss on Takeru's mouth. Leaning back with a grin, he said something else before releasing the others sleeves and skating towards the building. Takeru watched him go for a brief moment, then walked off cheerfully, apparently whistling as he walked off.

Wallace fumed as he heard the clunk clunk clunk of Daisuke's blades on the outer stairs and the jingle of his wallet chain as he moved. He gritted his teeth as the skater boy clumped into view, gliding easily down the walk way and fishing the key to the apartment from his pocket. "Hey, Wally-kun!" he greeted the other cheerfully.

"Don't you 'Hey Wally-kun' _me,_" the American grumbled. "Was that Takeru you were just with?"

Daisuke blinked and tilted his head to the side, just like he always did when confused. "Yes...?"

"Are you a male slut or something?"

The other boy blinked. "What? Oh! Oh, God! The kiss!" he smacked his forehead.

"Yes!" Wallace glared at him. "The kiss! Why, Dais? What about _me?_"

Scratching his head, Daisuke sighed. "How many times have I heard _that_ today..." He unlocked the apartment door and swung it open. "Come on in, Wallace. We need to talk." Wallace shuffled in obediently. "Here, sit down. I need to change into some dyer clothes," Daisuke unstrapped the blades and left them dripping rain on the wooden floor of the entryway. After Daisuke padded into his bedroom to change, Wallace gently moved the wet skate to the tatami before putting his own shoes next to them. He slid into the kitchen and found a paper towel, returning to wipe up the water.

He turned to see Daisuke watching him curiously, hoodie gone and the work shirt abandoned, leaving him in a white undershirt and still wet jeans. "What...?"

"Water ruins wood floors," Wallace explained, handing him the wet paper towel. "Just saving your family some cash."

Daisuke blinked a few times, then shrugged and tossed the paper towel into the trash. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Whatever's fine," the blonde sat down on the couch. He watched Daisuke closely as he stepped into the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator. Yanking out two cans, he tossed one neatly to Wallace and opened the other for himself. Wallace stared down at the soda, silently cursing Daisuke for wearing something that showed off his athletic build.

Guzzling a long drink, Daisuke returned to his room to change. He started talking, loud enough to be heard in the other room. "You see, Takeru and I have been best friends for five years. Uh, four rather. And, well, there _have_ been times it's gotten a little intimate."

"You're kissed before?"

"Two times. After I told him I was bi, we made out in the school bathroom. And the second time was because we were drunk. But then again, the second time doesn't fully count because I also made out with Taichi... and Yamato too, come to think of it... God we were drunk!" the boy laughed to himself. He emerged from his room, fastening a brown belt around his waist. He was now wearing baggy khaki carpenters with a dark blue side stripe. He hadn't bothered to change into a new shirt, so Wallace could see every muscle of Daisuke's upper body very well defined as the redhead sat down in a soft armchair, folding his bare feet under him. "I guess I didn't think about those other times when I was talking to you. I mean... I figured they were just raw passion, you know? But I see now that Takeru thought they were more. And he wants more, Wallace, he wants to stick with me."

"But he's with Kari!" the blonde protested, sea green eyes focused on the others body.

Daisuke was too dense to notice that he was being thoroughly checked out. "Only for now. We'll see what happens between Takeru and I first."

"He's cheating on her with you, but keeping her as a backup in case things don't work out?" Wallace snorted indignantly.

"Yes," Daisuke responded bluntly. "But let me explain. The theory is that he's just jealous of you, and this intimacy will go away. But we don't know yet. So it would be mean to Hikari to break up with her, and then say, 'Oops! Changed my mind, I want you back!' Not to mention that it would make her angry with us both and most likely destroy our friendship completely. So we're just going to wait."

Wallace peered across the room. "And if it doesn't work out... what about you?"

Daisuke shrugged. "I don't know. I'd need more time to get to know you, honest. I'm sorry that I sort of led you on earlier. I was a little upset about Takeru's short attitude, so my mind was kind of cloudy."

Sighing, Wallace drew his finger around the can. "I see."

"I'm sorry. I want to be friends, you know. I like you. You're fun to hang around with. And who knows what'll happen next in the way of relationships! I'm only 17, my life isn't over yet." Daisuke grinned brightly and pointed at the television in the corner of the room. "Play Dreamcast?"

"Huh? Oh, sure, why not."

The two plopped down on the floor in front of the television and Daisuke handed over a controller. Their hands brushed against each other as Wallace took it, but only the blonde really noticed. "Don't be mad at me, okay?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow as he powered on the system.

Wallace blushed, glancing in the other direction. "I'm not mad. Some things are worth it."

"Okay. Now don't be mad at me when I kick your ass in Jet Set, m'kay?"

"Not a chance you'll beat me," Wallace shot back. Daisuke flashed a sparkling white grin that made the blonde want to melt, and at that moment his mind was made up.


	4. Stained Glass Windows

Daisuke sat alone with his eyes closed. The moonlight flooded in from the sliding glass doors, casting a soft glow on the room, the only light. He'd been sitting here for two hours. The apartment was empty, dark, and silent except for the ticking of the clock from his parents' room and his own breathing. He was trying to think.

Takeru was back with Hikari. He'd expected it and distanced himself from the blonde as much as possible without letting on to the fact that he'd known it would never stay that way. Takeru was too straight, too in love with Hikari. Hell, Daisuke was pretty damn straight himself. But for a while there, he'd wanted it. He'd wanted it to stay that way, he and Takeru. But if Hikari had found out... she would have been so angry with them both, and that friendship would be cut completely. Hikari was important to him in more ways than one, and it wasn't worth a romantic fling to lose her.

Although part of him kept saying that she'd known. She was like that. She knew things. She picked up on things that everyone else missed, and he hated her for that because it meant nothing could be hidden, including stuff he didn't want to talk about.

So now he was stuck on how to feel. It wasn't like he'd been 'dating' Takeru. They hadn't even gone to that much of a length with it. Two weeks, and it was over. Two weeks of his life that wouldn't have belonged to anyone else, whether he was with Takeru or not. And yet he felt a little... lied to? Used? It was as if Takeru had prevented him from going farther from Wallace, and then once he'd made sure Wallace was out of the way he let go.

Daisuke's eyes snapped open. Was Takeru using him as a last resort? If anything happened between himself and Hikari, he would fall back on Daisuke? He growled a bit. He didn't like that thought.

But perhaps he was just being paranoid. Besides, what did it matter anyway? Wallace was a nice guy, but he was certainly not Daisuke's type. But Takeru wasn't either, was he? Maybe his 'type' wasn't what he'd expected.

The boy groaned and rubbed his forehead. He wasn't much for trying to figure things out, normally. Whatever happened would happen, and there wasn't anything he could do to change it. Life sucks and then you die. So why was he wanting so badly to change this?

And what about Wallace? Wallace had told him the evening after their video game bash that he was going back to America for college instead of staying in Japan like he'd considered. Daisuke felt responsible for that, and it was as though he'd lost a good potential friend just because he wasn't attracted to him. How messed up was that? It wasn't like it was anything he could change. You can't force love.

He leaned forwards and rested his forehead on his knees, whimpering to himself and wallowing in self-pity. "This is not cool!" he announced to the empty dark room.

The telephone rang and he jumped in surprise, falling forwards off the couch. He grumbled at both his clumsiness and his edginess, struggling to his feet and answering the phone. "Yo, whut up Homie G?" was the first thing out of his mouth. "Hang on a second, I have no idea what I just said. Let me start over. Hello?"

"You're so ghetto, Daisuke," Hikari's voice giggled at him.

"I don't even understand what it was that I said. Do you?"

"No, but that's not important. Daisuke, we need to talk."

_Shit._ "We do? Okay... so talk."

"No, I mean face to face and stuff. This isn't something I can talk to you about over the phone. What do you have on for the next hour or so?"

He blinked and glanced down at himself. "Uhhh... jeans and a sweatshirt, why?"

"No, you moron! I mean what are you _doing_ for the next hour?"

"Oh! Oh. Well, why didn't you just say so in the first place? I'm not doing anything."

"Good. I'm coming to visit you." She hung up the phone the next second without even saying goodbye.

Daisuke went into his room, snapped the D-3 from the desk and e-mailed Takeru.

'I hate you.'

Hikari sat opposite Daisuke at the table, staring at him. He had on his sunglasses again, an attempt to keep his eyes hidden from her view as he focused guiltily on his hands. Unfortunately, he hadn't thought that the lenses were orange and she could see right through them. She smiled at the thought. She had never been able to stay angry at him for too long; he'd always do something cute or funny or just incredibly stupid that would make her laugh, and all of the anger would melt away. Still smiling, she tapped her fingers lightly on the table before her. "Dais? You do realize that the lenses are transparent... don't you?"

He glanced up at her. "Yeah, I realized that a few minutes ago, but I was hoping maybe _you_ wouldn't notice. Hi-chan, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I don't know. Whatever it is that you're here to talk to me about. I mess up a lot. If I hurt you or pissed you off or anything... I'm sorry. Sorry in advance for anything and everything."

Hikari tossed her hair out of her eyes. "Daisuke, I'm disappointed in you."

"Damn," he made a face. "I hate that."

"Why?" she blinked.

"Because. Everyone is always telling me how disappointed in me they are. 'Daisuke, why can't you get better grades? Daisuke, why can't you keep your room cleaner? Daisuke, why do you wear clothes like that? Daisuke, you disappoint me. Daisuke, you disappoint your father and myself. Daisuke, why can't you be more like your sister? Daisuke, why, why, why?'" The boy paused for a long moment, glaring through the orange tinted lenses. "I'm just a little sick of being the downer for everybody. For once I wish I could... I don't know. Make someone happy."

Hikari studied her friend quietly. The light from the window cast a strange glow on him, deepening the shadows that fell across his face. She had a flash of reality and realized she was staring at what was the deepest part of Daisuke, the part where all of the hurt and anger was buried away over the years. This was the raw emotional Daisuke that Takeru knew so well, the side of him that he refused to show her no matter how hard she pried. She regretted this now. Her anger had gotten her here, and she wanted to go back to not ever glimpsing this dramatically different side. "Whoo... Daisuke, all I wanted to talk to you about was why Takeru mumbled your name yesterday when we were kissing."

He glanced up, amusement flashing through his eyes. "I knew he'd spoil it. He can't keep his mouth shut."

She drummed her fingers on the table, fighting to get him away from the angst. "You must be one heck of a kisser, that's all I'll say. I'm not mad, honestly. I kind of knew."

"Yeah, you know everything."

"Not everything, Daisuke. There's a lot I don't know. There's a lot that you have to teach me."

He gave her a placid look, shaking his head a bit. "You don't want to learn what I know."

She mentally smacked herself. She'd walked down the wrong path and gotten him back into the whole dark side again. "Daisuke, what's wrong with you today? You usually never tell me any of this stuff." He shrugged. "Oh, don't you think that you can get away with it now. I didn't ask for you to open your mouth and tell me this – at least not today I didn't! So you tell me what's going on!"

"I feel used."

Hikari blinked. He eyed her silently.

"Used?" she repeated.

"Used."

"Why?"

"Because I do. You can't ask people to explain how or why they feel a certain way – it doesn't work like that." Daisuke shoved to his feet and headed towards the refrigerator, pulling out a can of something and opening it. He leaned back against the door. "I could have had Wallace. He wanted something with me. And I stopped it because Takeru promised me something else."

"But you didn't want something with Wallace, did you?" she asked quietly. "You could have had him, right. Then why let Takeru stop you?"

"I don't know. Because he was there? Because he appealed to me in a way that Wallace didn't? Because I've known Takeru longer and we have something already to build a relationship off of? I don't know, Hikari."

The girl pushed her brown hair behind her ears. "Do you love him?"

"Wallace or Takeru? No to both of them, either way. Actually, I take that back. Do you mean love, or in love? Because there is a difference, and if you mean just love... Of course I love Takeru. He means the world to me; I'd be dead without him. But I'm not _in_ love with him, no. And Wallace... I don't know him well enough to say that I love him, but I'm definitely not in love with him, either."

"So then why do you want to be with either of them?"

"Hi, Hikari, this is Daisuke we're talking about. The boy who believes it takes a _very_ long time to fall in love?" He shrugged and took a long drink from the can. "I guess I just want something. Somebody. And there were both there."

"There are plenty of _girls._ And guys that are single. Like Ken! Ken is single!"

"Ken is not my type."

"But Ken likes you. You know he does."

"Ken. Is. Not. My. Type," the boy emphasized every word, shaking his head a bit. "I don't think I'd ever be romantically attracted to him."

"You wouldn't know unless you try!" she pointed out cheerfully.

Daisuke made a face, pulling the sunglasses from his eyes and throwing them at her. She caught them neatly. "Hikari, shut up. I said no. Sorry," he added before she could say anything more. "I didn't mean that. It just came out." He slid down the fridge door and sat on the floor, making faces at the soda can in his hands. "Here, let me lay it all out for you. Takeru is gone, Wallace is gone. Daisuke feels jilted and _really_ guilty at the same time. I don't know about Wallace. He seemed fine with it, and he did say he wanted to come back and visit again soon... but something about the way he got on that plane bugs me. He's angry with both myself and Takeru, and I can't do anything about it unless I completely cut off all contact with Takeru and start dating Wallace, who I don't have any desire for. Sure he's a cute kid, but it's just... you know... no." He took a deep breath and kept going. "Takeru is back with you and accidentally spilled our little fling to you, you're mad at me and I'm mad at Takeru for telling although you would have found out eventually anyway... When in reality this is all my own fault. I should have made more of an effort to spend time with Takeru when Wallace was around to prevent the jealousy, I should have told Wallace no right off the bat, I should have told _Takeru_ no, I should have... I... I don't know. Hikari-chan, tell me what to do."

"I don't know either," she shrugged bluntly. "I don't know if you can fix this as easily as you'd like to. But I do know that feeling sorry for yourself won't help any, so stop whining. And stop assuming we're all angry with each other. I'm not mad at you; in fact I find it cute and a little funny that you and Takeru had a fling."

"A fling. That's all it was."

"Shut up! Daisuke, he liked you. He really liked you. He told me so."

Daisuke shrugged a little and rested his chin on his knees. "Fat lot of good that does now."

Hikari sighed once more. "Did you like him, Dais?"

Minutes ticked by in silence as Daisuke turned the question over in his mind; examining it and searching for any hidden meanings, for anything that Hikari might be drawing him into. Finally, he tossed everything out and decided to go for the truth: "Yes. I did like him. A lot." Hikari turned and walked towards the door. He groaned. "Hikari, please don't be angry. I just wanted to tell you the truth. Hi-chan... Hi-chan, I'm sorry, please don't!"

The girl flung open the door to the apartment to reveal Takeru leaning against the wall opposite the door. She pointed at Daisuke across the room without a word. Takeru grinned, striding into the room and heading straight for his friend. He sat down on the floor in front of him, then leaned forwards and kissed him forcefully.

Fireworks went off in Daisuke's mind. He briefly realized that his mouth would be a little bruised from the heavy kiss, but it didn't matter. All that mattered now was Takeru.


End file.
